Mayor Weaver invited two members of the Economic Development Council, along with Gerry Nechvatal, to discuss Nechvatal's dismissal as economic development director.

If the first meeting under a new power structure at the city of Jasper is any indication of what’s to come, mayor and council have a long road ahead to work out kinks and calm tempers.

During council’s heated marathon March meeting on Monday, Mayor John Weaver used his gavel on numerous occasions to call order when conversation got intense during the more than three hours of discussion.

Right out of the gate, tension between the mayor and the council was apparent. It took council a full 15 minutes to get through the reading of last month’s minutes. Among issues council had with minutes included Sonny Proctor’s denied request to have an agenda item added about the city manager job description. Proctor said the mayor, who sets the agenda, told him the agenda was “too crowded.”